handbag.com Launches Unique Facebook Application

Today top women’s website www.handbag.com announced the launch of their very first fashion and style application on social networking site www.facebook.com.

The application, which has been created by specialist digital agency Bright Blue Day Digital, will include three central features:

• I’m Loving / I’m Hating:
You rate a featured fashion item according to whether you love or hate it. Things you love are automatically added to a wish list feature, ready to be forwarded to family and friends for discussion, comment – or even a gentle hint when your birthday comes round.
By aggregating the Loving / Hating score, the application will record the fashionable Facebook population’s definitive judgement on the latest styles.

• Limited Edition Exclusive Gifts:
Designer Lulu Guinness and social grooming spa Cowshed are among the top brands who have created a limited number of virtual gifts for the truly style conscious to give to their Facebook friends. The gifts are available with virtual credit points generated by using the application.

• handbag.com Hotline:
Constantly updated fashion news supplied by an RSS feed directly from www.handbag.com to your profile.

Alicen Stenner, www.handbag.com’s brand director, said “This groundbreaking application is specially designed to appeal to style-conscious women who adore fashion and enjoy social networking. It also presents a unique opportunity for brands to appeal to a very discerning audience. Bright Blue Day Digital has created a beautiful and practical design that we believe users will find enormously engaging.”

Jeremy Baldwin, new business development director, Bright Blue Day Digital said, “Social media has become a viable way for brands to seek conversation with consumers and is continuing to grow. handbag.com understands the importance of this new channel and is using innovative social media marketing tools to give its brand a presence in this new marketplace.”


For further information, please contact:
Louise Bury
louise.bury@hearstdigital.co.uk
www.natmags.co.uk
www.handbag.com

About NatMags
The National Magazine Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst Corporation established by William Randolph Hearst in 1910. NatMags publishes 14 consumer titles in the UK: Coast, Company, Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan Bride, Country Living, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, House Beautiful, Prima, Prima Baby, SHE, You & Your Wedding, and Zest. The group publishes a further two magazines, Men's Health and Runner's World, through a joint venture known as NatMag Rodale and three large scale weeklies, Best , Reveal and Real People through a joint venture known as ACP-NatMag.

About handbag.com
handbag.com was the first dedicated women's lifestyle website to launch in the UK, and is now the market leader with over 1.5 million unique readers every month.
handbag.com is a stylish, glamorous, trusted and informative editorial title providing the inside track for busy women online on everyday important issues like fashion, beauty, celebrity relationships, health and careers. With the luxury look of a glossy and the lightening reactions of a daily, handbag.com offers a breadth of coverage from expert writers, establishing a powerful reputation as the leader in a crowded field.
Launched in 1999, the title was acquired by the National Magazine Co. in October 2006 alongside its subsidiary sites getlippy.com, aimed at 18- to 30-year-old women, allaboutyou.com for women aged over 35 and gomamatoday.com, a pregnancy and birth site. handbag.com is part of the company's Hearst Digital network.

About The Hearst Digital Network
The Hearst Digital Network, a division of National Magazines, publishes the following websites: www.handbag.com , www.netdoctor.co.uk , www.getlippy.com , www.allaboutyou.com , www.babyexpert.co.uk , www.cosmopolitan.co.uk , www.prima.co.uk , www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk , www.youandyourwedding.co.uk , www.countryliving.co.uk , www.menshealth.co.uk , www.runnersworld.co.uk

About Bright Blue Day Digital
Bright Blue Day Digital is the specialist digital arm of Bright Blue Day. Bright Blue Day is an integrated agency specialising in brand engagement. The Poole based agency offers clients the full range of marketing services from: strategic consulting, customer engagement, brand development to marketing communications, focusing on advertising, digital, design, web 2.0 solutions and social networking.
www.brightbluedaydigital.co.uk.

For further information:
Nicola Craft/ Kerry Hallard
Buffalo Communications
02 7292 8680
brightblueday@buffalo.co.uk